John Henry Toney (1928-2019) - Untitled

Technique: Mixed media
Signature: Hand signed

John Henry Toney is a true original. Born in 1928 in rural Russell County Alabama, he spent about six years in elementary school before leaving to live a life of farming, hard work and deprivation. He lived in the county until his death in 2019 at the age of 91. He was a deeply religious man, and was locally known as "Mustache Jesus. " He had no thought of being an artist until he was 66 years old.

In 1995, John Henry plowed up a turnip "with a face on it. " He decided he needed to draw a picture of the turnip, and this led to more and more fanciful artworks, derived from a quite remarkable imagination. He began by drawing on cardboard boxes, and moved to poster board, using paint pens and pencil. John Henry took a few of his pieces around to the Mayor's Office. The Mayor, who happened to appreciate original thinking and creativity, showed them to various friends and acquaintances. Only a few years after starting his artistic career, John Henry is widely collected regionally, and has been featured in Folk Art shows in Alabama (Celebrating the Vision) and Kentucky (Festival of the Arts) .

One can not help noticing that John Henry's inspiration includes the Bible, but also those "big women" with torpedo breasts, to whom he pays homage in many of his drawings. Toney always added his phone number as part of his signature.

Some fading and marks on boards typical to outsider works.